William King named Willett Faculty Scholar

William King is one of six faculty to be selected as a Willett Faculty Scholar by the College of Engineering. The four-year appointment is to recognize and stimulate intellectual leadership and outstanding research.

Professor King is a Kritzer Faculty Scholar and an associate professor in the Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering. Before coming to Illinois, King spent 16 months in the Micro/NanoMechanics Group of the IBM Zurich Research Laboratory, and was on the faculty at Georgia Tech. At Illinois, his group works on nanoscale thermal and mechanical measurements, engineering of nanomechanical devices, nanomanufacturing, and nanometrology. King is the winner of the CAREER award from the National Science Foundation, the PECASE award from the Department of Energy, and the Young Investigator Award from the Office of Naval Research. He was named Young Manufacturing Engineer by the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (2006). In 2006, Technology Review Magazine named him to the TR35−one of the people under the age of 35 whose innovations are likely to change the world. In 2007 his innovations were selected for an R&D 100 Award and a Micro/Nano 25 Award, and in 2008 he won his second R&D 100 Award. He is co-founder of two companies.